homesick ☆ f.weasley

.:18:.

The Yule Ball was fast approaching and Veronica had told Emmeline that turning up without a date was a fate worse than death. This panicked Emmeline. Now she was a champion and popular, all eyes were on her. It felt like she was famous, not just Rita Skeeter wanted to know everything about her. Finding a date seemed much harder than fighting a dragon. Veronica had reminded her she had to be asked, she couldn't ask anyone. People were literally queuing up to ask Veronica, Vivienne and Velma but with Emmeline being the newbie, she wasn't getting as much attention.

Veronica, Vivienne and Velma had encouraged Emmeline into the Slytherin common room. The Gryffindor felt a real part of the group. The room was a low-celinged dungeon-like space with a dim, greenish glow. Although gloomy, Emmeline admired the grand room with elaborate emerald chairs and lamps. A small yet elegant waterfall trickled in the middle of the room, splitting it into two halves. It didn't have the same life or warm aroma as the Gryffindor common room. Vivienne was currently surveying a long list of parchment that enlisted everyone who had asked her to the Yule ball. It appeared she was asking Veronica who she should choose but it looked more like she was asking her for permission rather than advice.

"So are you hoping Cedric asks you?" Veronica pressed.

"I'm not sure he will," Emmeline admitted quietly.

"Of course he will, you're popular now. You're not as pretty as me but you're better than you were," Veronica said. "I'm jealous you get to dance with your partner infront of everyone but like everyone will be looking at me anyway. Oh, what are you wearing?"

"Pastel green dress robes."

"Wrong."

"Pardon?"

Vivienne sighed at Emmeline's apparent ignorance. "We're all wearing pink."

"But I don't have pink dress robes," argued Emmeline in an anxious tone.

"Well you better get one or else you can't sit with us." Veronica's voice was eerily silky.

When Veronica, Vivienne and Velma left to go to bed, Emmeline burst into the Gryffindor common room.

"Daisy, what colour are your dress robes?" Emmeline demanded.

"Talking to me now are you?" she said lazily, placing her set of cards on the table. She was currently playing snap with Neville.

"Oh not you as well," snapped Emmeline.

"You're the one who hasn't spoken to me in days, I'm not cool enough anymore. Anyway, why do you want to know what colour my dress robes are? You bought them with me, remember?"

"Yes I know they're red but how red? Would you say they were pink? Or red?"

Daisy laughed. "What? Why do you want to know the exact colour-"

"Veronica wants us to wear pink."

"But yours is green."

"Exactly that's why I want yours."

"That's ridiculous."

"So is that a yes?"

"It's a no. A hard no."

Emmeline flounced away, leaving Daisy confused and hurt. Who was her sister becoming?

By the time Emmeline had made her way back to the Slytherin common room, three boys had asked her to the Yule Ball. She barely recognised any of them. She did her best to mimic what Veronica would do by concealing her excitement and sternly telling each boy she would think about it. She told Veronica excitedly, but was shocked that she didn't replicate the extent of her enthusiasm.

"Of course they will. If they can't go with me they'll ask Vivienne then Velma and then you," Veronica said knowingly, twirling her shiny auburn hair around a manicured finger. "It's like the next best thing. Oh, show me your dress robes! They can't be as nice as mine."

"Of course she'll never look as nice as you," Vivienne said.

"Well obviously I know that, I could be in a binbag and still look the best. I'm just double checking, you know?"

Velma and Vivienne nodded although Emmeline wasn't entirely sure they did know.

"So where is it then?" pressed Veronica.

"Where's what?"

"Your dress robes!"

"Oh, I left them in my dorm. Should I go and get them?"

Veronica shook her head vehemently. "Of course not! I'm sick of you associating yourself with people like Angelina and Fred and George and Norman."

"Norman?"

"Yes Norman Shortbottom," snapped Veronica impatiently.

"You mean Neville Longbottom," laughed Emmeline.

"Don't laugh at me!" yelled Veronica, her expression darkening to the extent where it was scary.

"I'm sorry!" Emmeline proclaimed, feeling like she had committed the worst sin possible.

Veronica's face softened, but only slightly. "Don't talk to Daisy either."

"But she's my sister!"

"I don't care. She's weird. If you want to associate yourself with her you can unassociate yourself with us, is that what you want?"

Emmeline hesitated, before shaking her head."No, of course not."

"What's the plural of James?" Velma asked suddenly. "James? Jamesss? Jamesssssss?"

"That's it I'm going to bed I can't cope with any of you anymore!" Veronica snarled.

"Do you want anything bringing up? I can come with you?" Vivienne cried desperately.

"No."

"But I haven't done anything wrong!" Vivienne protested.

"I want to be on my own!" The red head growled so loudly that the entirety of the common room turned to gawp.

"No problem, just ask if you need anything getting," Vivienne said quickly.

"I will." Veronica disappeared, mumbling to herself, her pearly white teeth clenched.

"You've upset her now," Vivienne said coldly. She crossed her legs and tilted her head to view Emmeline, smugness etched on her face. "Don't be surprised if she doesn't let you sit with us anymore."

Emmeline's heart sank. Was that it? Was friendship with Veronica that fragile?

"I'll make it up to her," Emmeline said in a small voice.

"I think you should leave, come back tommorow," Vivienne advised, a satisfied grin appearing on her face.

"Oh."

"Bye!"

"Bye then."

Moments later, Emmeline could be located in the library. She was poring over books to find a charm to transform her green dress into any shade of pink. Her eyes dashed across books until the sun set and oranges and dark blues swirled along the sky. Madame Pince took great pleasure in turfing the exhausted blonde out of the library. Emmeline felt conflicted. Veronica had told her not to speak to pretty much every Gryffindor but she couldn't go back to the Slytherin dorms incase Veronica was still mad at her. She waited until the sky was a blanket of darkness before heading off to bed, in the hope that everyone would be asleep. Luckily, everyone was but her mind was whizzing. The egg hadn't even crossed her mind.